Saturday, November 23, 2013

Christmas Cozy, Christmas Bleak

By Chloe Ellefson

From Heritage
of Darkness, 4th in the Historic Sites series by Kathleen Ernst

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa…most of us dream
of a cozy holiday season.We want the
glowing candles, the scent of mulling cider, the taste of special holiday foods.Peace on earth sounds pretty good, too.

If the coming season does evoke negative vibes, they are likely about familial
disharmony, crass commercialism, and tight budgets.

Consider, though, what our ancestors experienced
centuries ago.Uneducated people living
in remote areas faced the shortest, darkest, coldest days of the year with trepidation.Folklore from many cultures recounts efforts
to stave away the evil spirits howling through the skies, sometimes known as
The Wild Hunt.Anyone careless enough to
be caught outdoors after sundown would suffer dire misfortune or be kidnapped
by the dead.Farm families painted
symbols on their outbuildings to keep evil at bay.Employers and workers slept on the floor, huddled
together for protection.

I’m a museum curator, so most of the time,
exploring folktales and old ethnic traditions makes me happy.I’m not
happy when I get pulled into murder investigations, but sometimes my knowledge
of folklore and history is key to solving crimes.

So when I discovered a body in an antique
immigrant trunk at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa, I
wasn’t totally surprised when the local police chief asked me and my cop-friend
Roelke to keep our eyes and ears open for anything suspicious.

Goat Head, Vesterheim
Norwegian-American Museum collection

I was also asked by the museum director to interview
elderly Norwegian-Americans about Christmas traditions.Although I love talking to seniors and
hearing their stories, I had some trepidation about this particular
project.The winter holiday season is
upon us, and some of the tales give me the willies.(At least the creepy goat heads carried to
ward away evil are carved from wood these days, and not the real thing.)

Then I started experiencing the vestiges of
ancient rituals once observed in the name of protection against evil
spirits.And I’m finding some pretty
dark secrets hidden in the roots of pleasant ethnic traditions.I’d like to leave the whole mess to the
police, but I’m starting to fear that the killer’s next victim might be my
mom…or me.

So take my advice:This December, do not delve into the ancient past.Stick with the modern cozy aspects of holiday traditions.

In fact, I’d like to hear about your favorite
traditions.What customs are important
in your family?

And if you leave a comment, your name will go
into a drawing for one of the Chloe Ellefson mysteries—winner’s choice!Be sure to leave an email address so Kathleen
can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

25 comments:

Yikes, Chloe! After seeing that picture of the Wild Hunt, I'm not sure I'll ever feel safe walking home from work in the December dark again. I'd love to get together and talk historic textiles with you sometime, though. Christmas traditions? My favorite is exchanging home made treats with friends - and making enough extra to take to the Haven of Mercy for the folks staying there. Good luck at Vesterheim!

I'm not venturing outside after dark without my fuzzy pooches, Sally-Forth and Tally-Ho! Not that they would frighten anyone or anything... I like making things, usually sewn and/or machine embroidered for friends and family.

When I was young we had a few Christmas traditions. Christmas Eve was spent with my mom's side of the family, then we'd generally stop at my paternal grandparents...the Wizard of Oz was always on TV. Christmas morning was me and my folks followed by church, my godfather's, then back to my paternal grandparents. Now I generally have to work on Christmas. I started my own tradition. Early in December I drive to a nearby town to their famous candy store to get handmade ribbon candy. I always eat red licorice and drink a pop on the way home!

I grew up with a lot of family traditions. One of my favorites is of the children laying out their Christmas stocking at the end of the bed at bed time. In the morning you invariably kick it, which wakes you up. I can recall sitting on my bed as the sun rose. I would take my time pulling treasures out of the stocking. My poking around would usually wake my sister in the next bed. She never made an attempt to be quiet, so soon the entire household was awake & up.

Interesting blog-I am looking forward to reading some of your books and perhaps sending some f the American Girl ones to my grandaughters. My favorite Christmas tradition was going to visit family friends during the holiday. I loved the presents and the cookies and singing Christmas carols. My favorite present was always books!

I wasn't familiar with your series but Heritage of Darkness sounds like a book I want to read. I enjoy Christmas themed mysteries (or Hanakkah, kwanza etc) as I enjoy reading/hearing about others traditions and folk lore.

Our presents were supposed to be opened Christmas morning (after Santa had visited and added to our family's gifts). But we little ones found it really hard to wait. So we began the tradition of getting one present Christmas Eve. I remember one in particular--my Aunt and Uncle gave me a gigantic stuffed bear, almost as big as me. He became "Chris", short for Merry Christmas.libbydodd@comcast.net

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